We need to think about and pray for our brothers and sisters suffering and dying for what we take so casually for granted, writes Fr Martin Delaney
Recently I returned to my alma mater, the Irish College in Rome. Some years ago the college chapel was extensively renovated by the Slovenian Jesuit artist, Mark Rupnik. The apse of the sanctuary is now a magnificent mosaic depicting some of the great Irish saints, Patrick, Brigid, Columbanus and Oliver Plunket. However, on the extreme right of the apse is the image of young Iraqi priest, Ragheed Ghani.
Ragheed had studied at the Irish College and was ordained in 2004. During his summer vacation time he worked in Lough Derg and visited many student friends and their families all over Ireland. After his ordination he returned to Iraq but I can remember the fear in his voice as he told us that, as the rest of the world rejoiced at the expulsion of Saddam Hussein, the post-Saddam Iraq was a much more dangerous place for Christians.
Ragheed did not expect to live more than two years; God gave him three. On Sunday morning, June 3, 2007, having just celebrated Mass at his parish church in Mosul, Ragheed and three deacons were shot dead as they left the church.
As I sat in the Irish College chapel the other day reflecting on the life and death of this young man I also thought of the 72 Christians killed days earlier in the week as they gathered to celebrate Easter in Lahore, Pakistan. Everywhere in Rome there is an increased armed military presence outside the major churches and holy sites.
The threat to Christians and Christian places of worship is now a worldwide phenomenon. Many find it hard to grasp that statistically, more Christians have been persecuted, imprisoned, and put to death in the last 115 years than in all the previous 19 centuries put together.
Some time ago I was alerted to a website called ‘The voice of the martyrs’ (www.persecution.com). This is in fact a non-profit organisation dedicated to assisting and listing the persecuted Christians around the world. You will find there the stories of famous Christian martyrs like Fr Maximilian Kolbe who died in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz and Archbishop Oscar Romero who was gunned down while saying Mass in El Salvador.
Taliban regime
I also read that under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, untold numbers died for openly professing their faith in Christ; that Christian public witness is forbidden in China, Equatorial Guniea, Iran, Laos, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Sudan and Saudi Arabia which outright forbids freedom of religion.
Recent research says that Christians face harassment in a staggering 133 countries representing more than two thirds of all the nations on Earth.
Disturbingly in this part of the world for various reasons we seem reluctant to raise our heads above the parapet about this situation. Part of the reason is that some of the countries which are the most repressive against Christians are countries we are courting for their trade and their oil.
At the very least we need to think about and pray for our brothers and sisters suffering and dying for what we take so casually for granted. As Irish people we have I believe a responsibility to go even further. We know that many of our ancestors did not enjoy the same freedom that we have to publicly gather in faith for worship. The Mass rocks strewn all over remote places in this land are a testament to the time when people risked their very lives to celebrate Eucharist. A new generation all over the world lives with the same risk today.
From ‘An Easter Prayer For Hope’ by Joyce Rupp
Risen Presence, stir hope in us when we waver in our belief about the goodness of humanity. Turn our face towards the sunrise of each morning. Assure us that every day brings light after night’s heavy darkness. Let it remind us that a fresh beginning continually awaits us. Open our eyes to recognise signs of your endless love. Draw us close on our own Emmaus roads. When our hearts are disconsolate, surprise us with your peace-filled presence. Rekindle our love.
Beginnings and endings! The new curate concelebrated Mass with the parish priest. As it was his first sermon in the parish he later asked the PP rather sheepishly how his sermon, which was rather long winded, had gone. Fine said the PP, “except for the ending!”
“And what was wrong with the ending?” asked the curate, who had paid particular attention to how he finished the sermon.
“Oh nothing much, really, except it should have been closer to the beginning!”